An amusing and upbeat look at the Disney compnay's new town
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Celebration USA is a frank and detailed account of one family's experience of living in Disney's utopian town 'Celebration' located a few miles from Walt Disney World in Flordia. Like early American pioneers Frantz and Collins soon learn that Celebration is not all that Disney promised it would be. Their tale explores all aspects of this 'brave new town' from problems with the quant yet unfinished houses to the controversial teaching methods at the new school. This is a humourous, touching and uplifting story that would be a must-read for anyone contemplating moving to Celebration. Filled with deatiled interviews of the town's new residents it proved delightful reading and insightful detail.
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A collection of value contradictions.
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Written by left leaning, sniveling reporters. They are critical of Disney's handling of the wetlands, yet the authors bought a house in middle of the wetlands. They snipe about Disney not giving away part of their profit margin to accommodate low income people, yet didn't rent out their "granny flat" to an under privileged person. As true liberals, the authors see corporations as responsible for everyone's welfare. Most of the actions of the authors in Celebration were to try to force Disney to do something. Their position seems to be that Disney should be more regulated and contribute more. It would be nice at least once to hear them thank Disney. Thank you Disney for your vision. Thank you Disney for risking your capital. Thank you for fighting the political battles to make Celebration possible.
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An insightful, insider's overview of Disney's "dream world"
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A smart idea! Instead of visiting as reporters for a few weeks, the authors moved themselves and their children to Disney's planned community of Celebration, Florida -- then stayed for a year! Here's a real inside viewpoint of Disney's "perfect small town", brought to life by two people who are smart, literate and have a broader view of the meaning, trends and consequences of planned living. As investigative reporters, they cast a wide net -- interviewing executives and residents; getting the back story; examining other planned communities across America (both recent and past). As residents and parents, they also deliver a more realistic, intimate portrait of scraped knees and bruised egos. The lesson is made clear by good, crisp reporting and insider experience: while people can move their families, their possessions and their lives to a new community, ultimately, one thing never changes -- who they are. A delicious read.
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Though full of interesting facts, a bit flat.
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Douglas Frantz and Catherine Collins did their homework. They moved to Celebration, joined the organizations, interviewed the principals, sent their kids to school, hung out with the locals. However, their quest for objectivity strips the book of any life it could have had. I know these smart and well-travelled reporters had opinions about the neighbors, the lack of intellectual discussions, the maddening pastels, but there is only the barest hint of this. They try so hard to like Celebration you can see their jaws clenched through the smile. I wished I could shake them have them really confide in me. Although they joined every organization and supposedly made many friends, it was a difficult decision for them to choose to stay more than a year. In carefully worded phrases, they admit it is not for them. On a technical note, since the two of them wrote the book together, they would say "we did this" and then refer to "Doug and Cathy" in the same paragraph. It was disconcerting and confusing. Read it if you want to know about Celebration.
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